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Game Over for Original Xbox Online

Microsoft is finally withdrawing the Xbox LIVE online gaming service for owners of the original Xbox (ie, not the 360). The move will also mean the withdrawal of online play for Xbox titles played through the Xbox 360.

The best guess would be that Xbox LIVE is being redesigned to add support to the motion control features of Project Natal. It’s also possible that some of the structures put in place at the initial launch of the service are simply inadequate in the 360 era: for example, the limit of 100 people on the online friends list may now be raised.

The service will be withdrawn from April 15. However, customers who only use the original Xbox will have their auto-renewals switched off immediately. Those affected by the changes should be getting messages through their LIVE account or e-mail in the next few weeks.

The strongest reaction to the news appears to be from dedicated fans of Halo 2, the best selling game on the original console and at one point the most popular online Xbox game for nearly two years. Speculation at the moment points to it being added to the Arcade section of Xbox Live or even being re-released for the Xbox360.

The news won’t be particularly welcome for people who’ve recently downloaded original Xbox games to their 360 with the intention of playing them online.

Whether the change is fair or reasonable is certainly open to argument. Owners of the original console may feel aggrieved at the move, particularly given that rival Sony still supports the 10-year-old PS2. Defenders of Microsoft would note that ditching some form of support for older products to concentrate on the latest systems is a well-established part of its business strategy.

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10 Responses to Game Over for Original Xbox Online

Is there a way for either Microsoft to split the 360 side of Live from the original Xbox? Or possibly allow some third party company to continue online support? Is it too cost prohibitive to make such a move? I understand removing support the original xbox, but one of the features touted to my friend for the xbox 360 was the ability to download the original games to his 360 and still play them online.

Is there a way for either Microsoft to split the 360 side of Live from the original Xbox? Or possibly allow some third party company to continue online support? Is it too cost prohibitive to make such a move? I understand removing support the original xbox, but one of the features touted to my friend for the xbox 360 was the ability to download the original games to his 360 and still play them online.

I understand the business model of withdrawing support, intellectually, but emotionally it doesn’t sit well with me when I hear this sort of thing. Especially on a system that still works.

It’s too bad that Microsoft can’t delineate their service between the old and the new; have a XBox versus XBox 360 choice upon entering your Live account. MS would dedicate the majority of their resources to the XBox 360, but still (perhaps) satisfy the older systems until they dwindle in use.

This business model is one of the reasons why, when support for XP goes, my laptop will become an experiment with a Linux distribution.

I understand the business model of withdrawing support, intellectually, but emotionally it doesn't sit well with me when I hear this sort of thing. Especially on a system that still works.

It's too bad that Microsoft can't delineate their service between the old and the new; have a XBox versus XBox 360 choice upon entering your Live account. MS would dedicate the majority of their resources to the XBox 360, but still (perhaps) satisfy the older systems until they dwindle in use.

This business model is one of the reasons why, when support for XP goes, my laptop will become an experiment with a Linux distribution.